LeTourneau Co. of Georgia

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Feb 5, 1946

65 N.L.R.B. 823 (N.L.R.B. 1946)

In the Matter of LETOURNEAU COMPANY OF GEORGIA and INTERNA-
TIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF BOILERMAKERS , IRON SHIPBUILDERS AND
HELPERS OF AMERICA (AFL)
Case No. 10-R-1647.-Decided February 5, 1946
Mr. Clifton W. Brannon and Mr. C. M. McClure, of Toccoa, Ga., and
Wheeler, Robinson & Thurmond, by Mr. A. C. Wheeler, of Gainesville,
Ga., for the Company.
Messrs . T. M. Tillis and F. G. Waddle, of Toccoa , Ga., for the
Boilermakers.
Mr. A. H. Attaway, of Atlanta, Ga., for the UAW-CIO.
Mr. John H. Wood, Jr., of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
AND
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Upon an amended petition duly filed by International Brother-
hood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders and Helpers of America
(AFL), herein called the Boilermakers, alleging that a question affect-
ing commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees
of LeTourneau Company of Georgia, Tournapul, Georgia, herein
called the Company, the National Labor Relations Board provided
for an appropriate hearing upon due notice before William M. Pate,
Trial Examiner. The hearing was held at Toccoa, Georgia, on No-
vember 8, 1945. The Company, the Boilermakers, and United Auto-
mobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America
(CIO)," herein called the UAW-CIO, appeared and participated.
All parties were afforded full opportunity to be heard, to examine and
cross-examine witnesses, and to introduce evidence bearing on the
issues. The Trial Examiner's rulings made at the hearing are free
from prejudicial error and are hereby affirmed. All parties were
afforded an opportunity to file briefs with the Board.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following:
1 At the hearing , the oral motion of United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Im-
plement Workers of America (CIO) to intervene was granted.
65 N. L. R. B., No. 144. 823
824 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY
LeTourneau Company of Georgia is a Georgia corporation with its
principal office at Tournapul, Georgia. It operates its main plant at
Tournapul, Georgia, and a branch plant at Vicksburg, Mississippi.
At its Tournapul plant, the only one involved in this proceeding, the
Company is engaged in the manufacture of heavy grading and earth-
moving equipment. During the calendar year of 1944, the Company
purchased raw materials of value in excess of $1,000,000 for its plant
at Tournapul, Georgia, of which more than 90 percent was purchased
outside the State of Georgia and shipped to its Tournapul plant.
During the same period its sales were in excess of $1,000,000, of which
more than 90 percent was shipped to points outside the State of
Georgia.
The Company admits, and we find, that it is engaged in com-
merce within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act.
II. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Shipbuilders,
and Helpers of America, affiliated with the American Federation of
Labor, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees
of the Company.
United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Work-
ers of America, affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organiza-
tions, is a labor organization admitting to membership employees of
the Company.
III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
The Company has refused to grant recognition to the Boilermakers
as the exclusive representative of its employees at its Tournapul plant
until it has been certified by the Board in an appropriate unit.
A statement of a Board agent, introduced into evidence at the
hearing, indicates that the Boilermakers represents a substantial
number of employees in the unit hereinafter found appropriate.2
We find that a question affecting commerce has arisen concerning
the representation of employees of the Company within the meaning
of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the Act.
2 The Field Examiner reported that the Boilermakers submitted 3S8 authorization
cards and that there were 750 employees in the alleged appropriate unit The Field
Examiner further reported that the UAW-CIO submitted 49 application cards.
LE TOURNEAU COMPANY OF GEORGIA 825
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
We find, in substantial agreement with the stipulation of the par-
ties, that all employees in the Company 's plant at Tournapul , Georgia,
excluding office and clerical employees ( including receiving and ware-
house clerks ), technical ( including laboratory chemists and Inetal-
lurgists ) and sales employees , students in Toccoa Vocational Train-
ing School , students and instructors in the Machinists Training
School, cooperative students , employees of the Standards Depart-
ment, employees of the Production Control Department ( including
stock-chasers , scheduling men, routing men, departmental clerks, and
Control Room clerks ), professional workers ( including physicians,
nurses, and lawyers ), cafeteria workers, messengers , time-study em-
ployees, watchmen and guards , over-the-road truck drivers, bus
drivers, and all supervisory employees with authority to hire,
promote, discharge , discipline , or otherwise effect changes in the
status of employees , or effectively recommend such action , constitute
a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
V. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
We shall direct that the question concerning representation which
has arisen be resolved by an election by secret ballot among the
employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the
pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of
Election herein , subject to the limitations and additions set forth in
the Direction.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, and pursuant to Article III, Section 9, of National Labor
Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 3, as amended, it is
hereby
DIRECTED that , as part of the investigation to ascertain representa-
tives for the purposes of collective bargaining with LeTourneau
Company of Georgia, Tournapul , Georgia, an election by secret bal-
lot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty
(30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direction and
supervision of the Regional Director for the Tenth Region, acting
in this matter as agent for the National Labor Relations Board,
and subject to Article III, Sections 10 and 11, of said Rules and
Regulations, among the employees in the unit found appropriate in
Section IV, above, who were employed during the pay-roll period
826 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
immediately preceding the date of this Direction, including employees
who did not work during said pay-roll period because they were ill
or on vacation or temporarily laid off, and including employees in
the armed forces of the United States who present themselves in
person at the polls, but excluding those employees who have since
quit or been discharged for cause and have not been rehired or rein-
stated prior to the date of the election, to determine whether they
desire to be represented by International Brotherhood of Boiler-
makers, Iron Shipbuilders and Helpers of America (AFL), or by
United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers
of America (CIO), for the purposes of collective bargaining, or by
neither.